


At the End of Waiting

by AlexOblivion



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Badass Toph Beifong, Clueless Sokka, Drinking, Drunken Confessions, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Minor Aang/Katara, Minor Angst, Misunderstandings, Past Cheating, Past Suki/Sokka - Freeform, Porn With Plot, Realizations, Sex, Sokka takes advice from an ex, Sweet Ending, Ten Years Later, The opposite of a slow burn, Toph Being Awesome, Vaginal Sex, after the war, explicit - Freeform, though I guess it took a while to realize...
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-14 16:01:23
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19276645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlexOblivion/pseuds/AlexOblivion
Summary: Sometimes, good things end in a mess - Sokka and Suki's relationship for example, which ended because she thought he wanted someone else and shedidwant someone else. Sometimes, even messy things can be bittersweet, like when the two meet again at a party a year later and finally talk about what went wrong. And sometimes, things can be inevitable, and Sokka could find himself watching the way the moonlight trails down Toph's skin and wondering why he hadn't been looking at her like this all along.





	At the End of Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! I know this is an older show now, but I just finished a rewatch and damn does it hold up. This is just a little ficlet I cooked up, let me know what you think! -AO

Sokka bounced on his heels, unable to contain the bits of nervous tension ricocheting around his system. Tonight was the grand opening of the Southern Water Tribe Cultural Center, a monument to his people that he had been working on for the past few years. It was also the first time in a few years that the gang would all be back together, and he would have to see _her_. 

“Are you alright, Sokka?” A voice asked near his elbow, and Sokka turned to find Katara there. She was dressed in her best water blue robes, trimmed in white fur and bearing the crests of their family. She looked regal. Aang smiled at him from beside her, proud as usual in air yellow and orange. 

“Just nervous,” he replied, “Big night.” Neither of them looked like they believed him. 

Thankfully the horns blew just then to announce Fire Lord Zuko’s arrival. After he was announced they would be heralded in and Sokka could find the buffet table, where he could hide out until this was over. He entered the courtyard in front of the Cultural Center when his name was called, just after Katara and Aang, and smiled through the cheering that greeted him. The war had been over for almost ten years and they had built a new, peaceful city to unite the world in the aftermath, but despite their success Sokka couldn’t help feeling exhausted. He couldn’t really remember the last time he wasn’t working. He clapped along with the crowd as the earthen wall that concealed the new Cultural Center was lowered by benders and the beautiful building was revealed, but he couldn’t help feeling like his heart wasn’t in it. He’d just like to go to sleep. 

True to form once the formalities were over Sokka made a beeline towards the bountiful food table, determined to relieve it of some of the delicacies stacked there. He stopped just once along the way to pick up a drink. 

“Sokka!” One stop. All he had done was one stop to get a glass of ale and _she_ had found him. Deep breathe. 

“Suki!” He turned with the biggest smile he could muster plastered on his face, and there she was. She looked just as beautiful as he remembered, though tonight she was done up in full Kyoshi regalia. She smiled at him and reached for a hug, which definitely wasn’t the most awkward thing Sokka had experienced since they broke up a year ago. Definitely not. 

“How are you? How’s Zuko?” He asked, and winced. Why would he ask that? It was practically begging her to try to talk about their failed relationship, which he definitely didn’t want to do. She had reached out a couple times, but he had always been busy, and now here he was opening the door for her. Suki was never one to miss an opportunity. 

“Good! He’s good. So am I. How’re you?” She asked, and the sympathy in her voice brought Sokka’s gaze back to her from it’s wander around the room in search of an exit from this conversation. Her eyebrows were tilted up in the same pitying expression Sokka had seen in too many faces since the break-up and it rankled just as it did every time. 

“Me? I’m great! Just great. Why wouldn’t I be?” King of denial, wasn’t he. 

“Sokka…” She trailed off and her eyes slid away from his. 

Sokka took a deep drink of his ale. “What? What do you want from me, Suki?” He asked. Maybe this conversation was overdue, and maybe just now when he was most of the way through a beer and his nerves were at the edge of exhaustion, maybe he couldn’t find a reason to avoid it. 

“I just… I want us to be friends again, Sokka,” she whispered. He looked over at her and was surprised to find her eyes filling with tears. His heart softened a little, but he snorted. 

“You kind of ruined that when you fucked Zuko in our bed, didn’t you.” He turned and started to walk away, intent on escaping with his victory. Funny, that victory didn’t make him feel any better. A slender hand grabbed his arm and tugged him back around. 

“That was a mistake,” Suki said, the tears running tracks through her Kyoshi make-up, “but I thought you were with Toph and that meant we were over anyways so why the hell not? I know you weren’t, now, Katara told me, but it sure looked like it and I was so mad-” 

It took a moment for Sokka’s brain to catch up with him and fully understand what she had just said, and he cut her off mid-ramble. “What? You thought I was with Toph? Why?” This was new information. To be fair, he hadn’t really let anyone talk to him about Suki since the break-up, though they had all tried. Even Zuko had come by to try, and to apologize. Apparently Suki had told him that they had split up before Zuko made a move on her. They weren’t as close as they had been, but they were alright. The only one he had really cut off was her, and now that was making a bit more sense.

“Remember the night of Katara’s birthday party? It was really late and you and Toph were sitting out in the garden?” 

He did remember that night. 

*

He was pleasantly drunk, he decided, smiling down at Toph. She was too, if the slight sway of her head was any indication. They were the last two awake at Katara’s birthday and they had decided to go out to the garden so as not to wake up any of their friends who were draped across furniture in the living room. It had been a good party, just their little group, but Sokka wasn’t quite ready for it to be over. 

He didn’t remember what he and Toph had been talking about, something stupid he was sure. They did that when they were together, just chatted about nothing and teased each other and laughed. She was the easiest person to be around, despite her temper and her stubbornness. She had eased up in the years since the war; she’d made up with her parents and established her police force. She channelled all her energy into that, leaving her calmer and more even-keeled. 

He did remember staring at her. She was older now, as was he, and time had been good for them both. She was never going to be tall but she was beautiful, all long hair and muscled limbs. A breeze picked up in the garden and blew her long bangs into her eyes. She blinked, the strands sticking to her eyelids. It looked irritating, so he reached over and gently swept her hair back behind her ear. She had paused under the moonlight, her opaque eyes wide and her breathing stuttering. 

“Sokka?” She whispered. He trailed his fingers down from her ear, brushing gently over her neck down to her collarbone. She hummed softly and her eyes drifted shut. He let his fingers slip down her shoulder, past her elbow, to her hand. He touched each of her fingers, intent on learning as much of her skin as possible. Her breathing was fast and irregular, but still he wasn’t quite ready for her gasp. 

“Suki!” She burst, and the fact that he had a girlfriend who he was in love with came flooding back in. 

*

“You saw that,” Sokka stated. Suki nodded. 

“I did, and I thought… the way you looked at her, Sokka…” 

“Nothing happened though,” he felt like he was defending himself, and a little bit of himself felt like he might be lying. 

“I know,” she assured him, “well I know that now. I didn’t at the time. I thought you were going to dump me or cheat on me or something, and I was so mad… We had been drifting apart since I started travelling with Zuko, and I knew there was something with him, and I just… I made a mistake. I should have just talked to you.” 

He didn’t know what to say to that. Yeah, it was shitty, but on a level he understood it. When he had found her and Zuko together he had wanted to hurt her too, the same way she had done to him. It was only Aang that had kept him from doing something unbearably dumb. They were quiet for a moment, and then Sokka found himself laughing a soft, sad laugh. 

“We really fucked this up, didn’t we?” He asked, and after a moment she joined in his chuckle. 

“We did. Oh Sokka, I missed you,” she said, touching his hand briefly. He used to feel sparks when she touched him, little butterflies dancing in his stomach. It was strange to feel nothing but the warmth of her skin now. But it was good, better than the anger he had held on to for so long. 

“I just want us to be friends again,” she whispered and for the first time since that night a year ago, he thought it might be possible. 

“Me too,” he said. 

“Sokka… you deserve to be happy. I’m happy with Zuko, and you deserve that too,” she said. She looked past him and smiled. “I’ve never seen you look at anyone like that, not even me.” She patted his hand again and turned to make her way back to where Zuko was surrounded by Fire Nation officials. 

A moment later the person Suki had spotted and smiled at became obvious, though Sokka’s swimming brain was still a little behind. 

“Hey Meathead.” 

Drunk him from a year ago had been right, Sokka thought. Toph was beautiful, in a smirking, dangerous kind of way. She wasn’t in her armor tonight, instead going for a layered green dress with a white sash and a pattern of little yellow flowers around the hems. He wondered if Katara had told her there were little flowers on the dress. It suited her though, cinching in on her thin waist and showing off her collarbones. She wore her meteor bracelet as a thin necklace tonight. 

“Sokka?” She asked, and he realized it had been far too long of a pause since she had greeted him. 

“Oh hey Toph!” He sounded like he was fourteen again, damn it. 

“You okay? I sensed Suki over here earlier and figured you might need a drinking buddy.” 

He only considered it for a second. “You know what? That sounds perfect.” 

Sokka took Toph’s hand and tucked it into his elbow just as he had done a hundred times before and led her towards the bar. 

*

He insisted on walking her home, even though they were both drunk enough that it was more of a stumble and she was the greatest earthbender in the world. It was sweet, in an annoying Sokka way. He also held her hand most of the way, claiming it was for his own stability. She had a persistent thought in the back of her head that her palms were sweating on him, but she didn’t pull away. 

Toph owned a ground floor apartment next to the police station, only about a half a block away from Sokka’s place. They knew the way there even drunk, and it seemed like far too short of a time before they were standing at her door. Toph wasn’t sure what was going on with Sokka tonight, but she knew she wasn’t quite ready for it to end. He had been… different this evening, leaning towards her a bit more than usual, finding excuses to touch her, his attention never straying far from her. Usually he would get up and dance or find their other friends at some point, but not tonight. Tonight he had been with her from start to finish, drink after drink. 

“So what did Suki say?” She asked in a bid to keep him here and keep whatever was happening going. She winced. That was definitely not the avenue she wanted this to go down - talking about his ex-girlfriend. Toph and Suki had never been close, given that they’d met during the war and Suki had almost immediately learned that Toph had a little crush on her boyfriend, but no one had been more enraged than Toph was when she learned exactly what had caused the break-up. 

“She apologized for how things happened last year,” he said almost incredulously. Toph snorted but didn’t say anything. She had learned quickly that even if Sokka was allowed to badmouth his ex she certainly wasn’t. She leaned against her door, her legs a bit too wobbly to keep her standing. Sokka leaned in beside her. 

“She said she saw us at Katara’s birthday party. When we were out sitting in the garden.” A flush spread through Toph’s body and she was surprised Sokka couldn’t hear her heartbeat. She remembered that night, Sokka’s fingers trailing hot lines down her cheek, her jaw, her neck. She almost couldn’t breathe. 

“She said she thought we were getting together, so she got with Zuko,” he said. He had slipped further down the door so his shoulder was pressed against hers, a long line of warmth that she was having trouble not focusing on. 

“Shitty,” she said. He hummed agreement. 

“She said she’s never seen me look at anyone the way I look at you,” Sokka whispered, and Toph was pretty sure her heart stopped. She couldn’t breathe, and she was sure she hadn’t heard what she had heard. 

“What?” She squeaked. .

“She said she’s never seen me look at anyone the way I look at you,” he repeated, as if she just hadn’t heard him. Toph took a deep breath. She wasn’t some fainting lily, after all, she was the inventor of metalbending and the Chief of the first police force in Republic City. 

“How do you look at me, Sokka?” She asked, her voice barely over a whisper. She felt his body shift so he was up on his one shoulder, his body turned towards her. She levered herself so she was facing him, matching his posture. 

“Like this,” he whispered, and she had to laugh. 

“Hey idiot, blind girl, remember?” 

Sokka huffed a laugh and leaned his forehead down to rest on hers. When had he gotten so tall? 

“Sorry. Can I show you?” 

She bit her lip but there wasn’t any hesitation, not really. “Yes.” 

A second later his fingers touched down gently on either side of her face and she could feel him through the earth under her feet and through the contact of his skin. His heart was racing and his breathing was shallow. She smirked a little. At least she wasn’t the only one. Then her ability to focus disappeared. His fingers had shifted down her neck, gently running over her pulse point to her collarbone. He trailed over her shoulders, left bare by the dress, to her arms, and down. He skimmed over her elbows, her forearms, her wrists, then picked up one of her hands and brought it to his lips. He kissed each of her fingertips in turn, switched to her other hand, and repeated the motions. Her breathing was ragged by now. It was the softest, most lovingly she had ever been touched, and her heart was twisting out of her chest. 

“That’s how I look at you,” he whispered. His fingers trailed back up and rested on either side of her chin. “And I’d really like to kiss you now.” 

She breathed out something that might have been a please, and his lips were on hers. They were soft, which she hadn’t expected, and skilled, which she should have. He tilted her head for better access and she let him, content for now to let him lead. Her skin felt like it was alive with sparks and she tangled her fingers in his wolf tail. She didn’t want this to end, but a moment later it did. She tried to keep her blush in but she was sure Sokka could tell just how much this was affecting her. 

“Come inside?” She half-asked, half-ordered, and when he nodded she tugged his hand and led him into her house. 

As soon as they were inside Sokka was kissing her again, pushing her so her back was against the closed door. His hands slid down her back to her ass and pulled her flush against him so their bodies touched from hips to shoulders, and he groaned. She nipped his bottom lip, her own hands running up and down his back. Their kisses quickly grew heated until Sokka broke away from her lips to line kisses down her jaw and to the junction of her neck and shoulder. She gasped and began the search for the ties on his shirt. Soon she was pushing the offending garment off his shoulders, then off his arms and onto the floor. 

Sokka’s hand under her ass lifted slightly, so she lifted her leg with him to wrap around his waist - only to be stopped partway by her dress. Damn it she had forgotten she had that thing on. 

“Dress off,” she growled. Sokka’s hand immediately went to the tie of her sash, but paused before he undid it. 

“Are we - is this - shouldn’t we date?” He blurted, and Toph couldn’t contain a laugh. Trust Sokka.

“You worried about my reputation, Councillor?” She asked, and she was pressed too close to him to miss the little shiver that ran through him when she used his title. Toph filed that away for future use. 

“Well - I mean, I just want to make sure-” 

Toph took pity on him and kissed him until he stopped talking. 

“Sokka. I want this, and I’m pretty sure you do too.” He hummed agreement. “I haven’t ever given a shit what people thought of me, I’m not gonna start now.” 

His fingers resumed work on her sash. 

When her dress fell to the floor, Toph tried to find it in her to be nervous about her body, but she just couldn’t. This was Sokka, after all. She knew him as well as she knew herself; he was her best friend. And besides, if the way his hands were skimming down to her hips and back up to the underside of her breasts was any indication, he had no complaints. 

Toph ran her hands down his muscled chest until she found the waist of his pants and the tie that held them up. She started to nudge him backwards until she was walking him across the little flat towards her bedroom. He went with her until the backs of his knees hit the edge of her bed and he sat down. She stayed standing in front of him and his hands came back up, slipping over her thighs and hips. One slid around her back and pulled her closer, and the other began flicking over one nipple. His mouth followed quickly after. 

Toph held onto his head as he sucked and licked at her, barely noticing him shift to get his pants and boots off. The next thing she knew he was pulling her by her waist so she straddled his hips. He leaned up to kiss her again and one hand worked down between them. She could feel his hard length between them then, and she groaned into his mouth. 

“You’re so perfect,” Sokka whispered, lifting her hips and lining himself up with her entrance. 

“I know,” she quipped back, delighting in the little laugh he huffed against her neck. His tip aligned with her just then and she sank down an inch or two, taking just the head of him in. They both shuddered and Sokka buried his face in her shoulder. 

“Fuck,” he murmured, his fingers flexing on her hips. Toph sank down further, a smirk playing around the edges of her lips to hear him groan. She couldn’t help but giggle, which was met with a growl and a sharp nip to her collarbone. Sokka wrapped an arm around her back and flipped them so she was on her back, him between her legs. 

“Tease,” he said, and she stuck her tongue out at him. 

“Didn’t hear you complaining,” she shot back. Without warning he thrust forward, driving the rest of his not inconsiderable length into her. Toph gasped and arched her hips up to get more. 

“Don’t hear you complaining, either,” he said. She just tightened her legs around his waist and set her heels against his ass to urge him to do that again, all thoughts of banter momentarily forgotten. 

Sokka set up a fast pace and Toph rose to meet him on each thrust, their bodies just as in sync as always. At some point one of his hands slid up and their fingers tangled together on the bed beside Toph’s head. Toph could feel her impending crest, that tell-tale tingle in her stomach and the ache in her thighs. 

“So close, Sokka,” she groaned in his ear. He kissed her jaw, her neck, her collarbone, and tilted his hips up. His next thrust hit something in her that made her gasp, made her back arch taught like a bowstring and brought her crashing down around him with a moan. He followed her almost immediately after, a couple thrusts before he held himself tight against her hips and she could feel him twitch inside her. He kissed her again, a lazy slow press of lips and leaned his forehead against hers for a moment before rolling off her onto his back. 

“Well that was…” He gestured wildly and Toph grinned. 

“Mind blowing? Earth-shattering? I have that effect on people.” 

He put a palm over her entire face and she punched him in the ribs, cackling. She followed him as he rolled away though, tracking his movements across the bed so she could curl up against his side and rest her head on his shoulder. His arm came up around her and he sighed in contentment. 

“I think I’ve wanted to do that since last year,” he said. She smiled against his skin, drinking in the warmth and feel of him. He smelled good, like leather and snow and him. 

“I’ve wanted to do that since I was twelve,” she said. Sokka sat straight up, dumping her on the bed. 

“Twelve? I don’t think I even knew how all the bits fit together when I was twelve!” He squawked. 

Toph reached out and casually flicked her fingers, lifting a pebble and sending it flying (gently) into his forehead. 

“No you meathead, not that. Just… this. Us.” 

She could almost feel him blinking, surprised by her admission. “Oh. Really? You’ve been waiting all this time?” 

She rolled her eyes (useless as that was, sighted people seemed to appreciate it) and busied herself rolling her sheets down so she could climb in. “No, I have not been waiting for you. I know who I am, Sokka. I invented metalbending. I’m the Chief of Police and the greatest earthbender ever. I’m happy.” And she was. She had achieved a lot in her life and she still had a lot of life left to live. If Sokka was in it in the way she’d like, that would be great. But if he wasn’t, he was still her best friend and she would still have achieved all those things. 

Toph climbed into bed and pulled her sheets up to her chin, then waited. She hadn’t heard him move, and though her feet weren’t touching the ground and she couldn’t sense him that way she did have great ears. She figured he was still standing by the bed, probably trying to figure out what to do next. She decided to throw him a bone, though she’d rather tease him. She flipped the covers back on the other side of the bed and patted the space beside her. 

“You staying over?” 

A second later she felt his weight dip the bed down. 

“You’re right, Toph. You don’t need me to be happy. But, if you want to, maybe we could be happier together?” 

She smiled in his general direction. “Best idea you’ve had all night, meathead. Now come snuggle, I’m tired and I’d like to ride your face in the morning.” That surprised a laugh out of him and a moment later she felt his long frame curl in behind hers. He pulled the blankets up over them and tucked them in around her chin, his arm coming over her and pulling her as close to him as she could be. He kissed the back of her neck and she sighed happily. This she could get used to. 

“Who would’ve thought the greatest earthbender ever liked to snuggle,” Sokka teased against her hair. Toph reached back and pinched his thigh gently. He laughed. 

“If you tell anyone that I’ll bury you,” she warned. 

“You’d try,” he corrected, “Goodnight Toph.” 

She smiled softly and kissed the back of his arm where it rested around her chest. “Goodnight Sokka.”


End file.
